Birmingham vs Newcastle – Preview of Game

Today is a big day for Newcastle United and Birmingham fans as the two team meet tonight at St. Andrews in what promises to be a real relegation battle between two teams facing the drop.

We are getting a little fed up of saying we haven’t won in the last 12 league games, but maybe we’ll get a chance to change that after the game. That’s not to say it’s now 13 games, but that we can register a win and break our duck this year.

We won 2-1 at St. James’ Park with a dramatic last minute winner form Habib Beye, and those were certainly much better times for the club and the fans. We were grumbling then about not being higher up the league. We’re worried now that we don’t fall even further down into the relegation mire, which we’re already in of course.

The weekend’s results for Newcastle were a little bit of a mixed bag, being good on Saturday with Sunderland, Reading and Derby all being beaten by just one goal. But yesterday saw both Fulham and Wigan win. Bolton were on the wrong end of the result with Wigan, so they are still 3 points behind us.

But it’s about time we didn’t have to rely on the results of other teams and we did something to help ourselves – like get a win.

The team selection is going to cause some heartburn again we think for the Newcastle faithful. This is the side we’d like to see put out tonight:

We just think Oba Martins must start this game – that’s what we want to see, but we’re not sure that’s what Kevin will do. We still think he’ll keep faith with Alan Smith. 🙁

If that happens we’ll want Smith to get a couple of goals, and then we’ll acknowledge (quickly) that Kevin knew what he was doing all along with Alan. Certainly his fighting qualities are needed tonight.

We have to be honest about this game and we do not have a good feeling about the result. We’ve seen teams over the weekend show great fight and spirit. That’s something that’s been missing from our repertoire. Birmingham may have the best spirit of any team fighting for safety in the Premier League, and Manager Alex McLeish is well known for getting the best out of his squad.

He’s starting to do that, and just remember how he had Scotland playing out of their skins against Italy, while he was Scotland’s manager.

Our big concern tonight is that our lot will be outfought by Birmingham. We desperately want the team to win and want to be positive, but we also have to be honest, and say what we think. 🙁

We hope the players will prove us wrong and show the fight that is required. We really need to see another Blackburn (0-1) or Arsenal (1-1) type performance – but with a win this time.

The club desperately needs a win, but we’ll even be happy even with a draw, and then we can slaughter Fulham on Saturday. 😀

58 comments so far

If that is the team it’s disappointing to have your better players twiddling their thumbs on the bench while Kev and Terry sit scratching their heads. I’d love to see Smith dropped just to prove that Ashley isn’t sh@gging him on the side…… Roll on tonight……

Well milners out so he’s gotta play Geremi on the right wing really. He will hopefull play duff on the left and Zogsin the middle with Barton…..i actually think we might do alright tonight….win or draw ..im not usually too optimistic…it maybe that ive just been drinking free guiness at a st.patricks dat party in Taipei..being neither chinese or irish that has filled me with hope…..but i reckon it may be ok tonight.

dunno what to think about today, i really hope KK fields a different team. We MUST get the draw at least. My only wish is that we don’t see Smith on the Right wing. Other then that i really have no other desire.

I hope when I tune in at 5am Tuesday morning over here, (and maybe have to listen to a commentary in Mandarin or else some obscure dialect eg Sunderland or other foreigners) it will be worth it, because all I will see in front of me is a scoreline that begins to suggest Brum are going home with their tails between their legs. Being eleven blokes, I suppose they should be going home with their tails in that position, regardless.

Give me some points lads and I will gladly rejoice in the loss of sleep! Give me a starting side without the likes of you know who…(the Blond Bombshell and his mate Hairy Butt) and it will be a time of great celebration. Praise de Lord!!

Anything other than a win probably means relegation for us, a defeat will be catastrophic and leave us with a huge mountain to climb with players confidence at a really low ebb for the Fulham game who will come to St James full of themselves after defeating Everton.

We can do it but it probably means KK has to drop Smith at the very least

I think Joey Barton’s form could well make or break this game for us. He hasn’t looked very good as of late and the service into our forwards has suffered because of it. Our width is decent right now. If Barton can provide us with the link through the middle, I think we have a very good chance of winning tonight. Provided Owen can put something on goal…

Surely Martins has to start tonight? He was very good when he came on last week and deserves to be given a chance alongside Owen. Tonight is one of those games when the senior players (Barton, Owen and Duff in particular) need to stand up and be counted and it will all be about character. A defeat and it will be a real struggle to survive. The season hangs on this result – a win and that can be built on but lose and the confidence could take another irepareable knock.

Butt, Barton and Smith = defeat. Simple as that. If KK picks the side you predict Ed, he is a moron and we will lose. Move on to Fulham. We have to win that game. We can beat Brum but not with the team predicted

Leo – I counted. My mate I would put bets on to guess the number because it is always so high. Sad but true. If Butt always plays and screws up the team I may as well try to make money out of it.

Does anyone know if he has actually been dropped this season? I know Smith never has, though not sure about Butt. As far as I know the only games they have missed are the ones they have been constantly suspended for.

Another good game we played was guess the minute that Smith gets a yellow card. Always a sure fire bet

Saw the video HeronMag. If Martins plays like he did last year, hes magnificent!:) I remember him last year, when he had up to three, four players around him and still got away! Sometimes i couldn’t believe my own eyes;)

When Roeder backed him he played extremely well, but i think his confidence has dropped an awful lot since last year, and the Inter days. Hope he can get it back with a brace today!

has anyone noticed how when west ham announced their new technical director the press are like, west ham have been scouring the world for someone to take the job and they will work well together to find good transfers etc…

but when we announced wise vetre and jiminez it was all, they are going to destabalise keegan etc… bloomin arses

Buy T-shirts and Hoodies

health update

My latest bone scans and CAT scans were completed on Wednesday of this week and yesterday I met with my oncologist Dr. Dhruva to look over the results.

The stage four cancer remains stabilized and has not spread any further over the last six months.

I was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer in early 2017 after being in remission for six years.

The cancer metastasized through the bones to different parts of the body and the treatment I am undergoing is hormone treatment.

There is no cure for stage 4 cancer but there are treatments (like Hormone treatment) that attempt to prolong life.

I am upbeat with the results and remain in awe of the doctors and nurses at the Rex Cancer Center here in Raleigh.

It's truly humbling to see how inspiring they are with their patients.

Ed Harrison

Comments

The purpose of the comments is to allow Newcastle United fans and others to express their views on the news of the day concerning the Newcastle United Football Club.

We'd ask that you be civil towards other readers and refrain from obscene language and any comments on religion, ethnic groups or politics.

Let's make this work - and let's help the Newcastle United Football Club become great again.

Ed Harrison

Kacper Tylenda Website Designer

One of our avid readers Kacper Tylenda from Poland was the person who came in during April, 2017 and redesigned this web-site from top to bottom.

We think he did a fantastic job to modernize the site with the roll-out on Thursday May 18th surprisingly smooth.

I am so appreciative of his help.

Kacper is starting his own business in web-design so if you want a website built or know of people who want to redo their sites in any way – here’s his portfolio.

football club

It’s the noise, the passion, the feeling of belonging, the pride in your city. It’s a small boy clambering up stadium steps for the very first time, gripping his father’s hand, gawping at that hallowed stretch of turf beneath him and, without being able to do a thing about it, falling in love.